AN: Hello everyone and welcome to the next chapter. Thanks as always to those of you who read and reviewed. As a general point, Trina being adopted was something that made sense to me in terms of the Vega parents clearly loving Tori more than her. As for the ending, I'd draw your attention to the date, relative to the date of the prologue, and point out that Trina is on an aeroplane… why do you all think that is?
Challenge King – yes, Carly doesn't want any other girls vying for her affections when it comes to Freddie; based on the evidence from iCarly I don't think it's an unreasonable supposition.
Agent M – thanks; Trina's humanity can be developed as a result of what she has learned.
Fanficreader88 – You pretty much have it right; the girls treat Freddie like dirt but try to make sure nobody (especially other girls) can take him from them; Trina may just test that to breaking point… Trina will be in Seattle, but not just yet….
Irishfan62 – who her parents are isn't really relevant to the story. Maybe it will be explored and maybe it wnt.
Jeremy Shane – ask and ye shall receive; here is the next chapter…
Asphalt Café, Hollywood Arts High School
Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011.
Trina had remained sombre ever since her 'parents' broke the surprising news to her the previous evening. After telling her they had let Tori know as well and the younger Vega had done her best to be supportive towards the older girl; she was, meanwhile, coming to terms with the news herself, along with the discovery that she didn't really have a sister. Neither of the teenagers quite knew how to broach the subject, instead Tori settled for simply hugging Trina and assuring her that "I'm here, if you ever need to talk".
Trina hadn't taken the younger girl up on the offer; things were just too raw for her to want to talk to Tori about them right now. Her later chat with Freddie, however, had given her a chance to talk through some of her feelings with a sympathetic and totally objective listener, along with giving her the opportunity to lament, cry and rail against the world; it was an opportunity that she took full advantage of and felt a little better as a result. The tech producer, meanwhile, sat and listened in silence; he could offer no real encouragement or words of wisdom for his friend but was there just to listen while she vented.
She had received one text this morning from Freddie – Are you feeling ok? and had replied to it but they weren't having the sort of back-and-forth conversation that they had the previous day; along with her lower spirits it was something that Jade immediately picked up on.
"So, has that Freddie guy dumped your sister already?" she asked Tori with a smirk.
"No," the younger 'sister' replied, "I don't think so anyway." She was unwilling to reveal Trina's secret to anybody else as it really wasn't hers to tell.
Up in Seattle the girls had also noted the lack of a constant stream of text messages. Freddie would check his phone occasionally to make sure he hadn't accidentally put it onto silent mode; every time it would confirm that he had no new messages. Carly smiled for the first time since the party as she jumped to the same conclusion that Jade had; Sam, meanwhile, was happy to see Carly in higher spirits (even if Freddie was the inadvertent cause of them) and hopeful that the boy would be miserable again if things had indeed ended between him and Trina.
The brunette web hostess was slowly coming to terms with the weekend's events and the thought that she would have Freddie back to his old self and that things would return to normal was certainly helping her to get over Steven. The two girls began eagerly discussing plans for the next iCarly, fully expecting Freddie to be glad of the distraction and the return to normality.
They were to be disappointed by the end of school as Carly asked,
"So Freddie, do you want to go with us to the Groovy Smoothie and begin planning the next episode of iCarly?"
"I can't," he sighed, "I've got to get home to video chat with Trina. I'll call round later and you can fill me in?"
Without waiting for a reply from the stunned girls he left the school building and headed for his car.
"But… what… huh?" Carly stuttered at the closing door. She turned to Sam with a look of bewilderment. "I thought she was done with him!"
"Me too, kiddo. Looks like she's even crazier than we thought."
Vega Residence
Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, CA
Trina drove herself and Tori back to their home after school. They entered the house and saw Mrs Vega in the kitchen making dinner.
"Hey mom," Tori greeted her brightly, dropping her bag and bouncing onto the couch.
"I'll be in my room," Trina informed them and went straight upstairs without a second glance to the others.
Mother and daughter traded looks after watching her go.
"It's taking me some time to deal with the news; I've no idea how much more difficult it is for her," Tori noted sympathetically.
Her mother nodded and returned to the meal she was preparing. "We just have to hope she'll come around in time," she told the pot quietly.
The girl in question dumped her bag inside her bedroom, sat at her desk and pulled her laptop towards her. She booted it up and loaded up the web cat programme. Scanning her contact list she saw that Freddie was on-line so she immediately requested the chat and smiled broadly, and genuinely, as his face appeared on her screen.
"Hey handsome," she greeted him bashfully.
"Hi Trina, how are you doing?" The concern was evident on his face as he looked at her.
"Still dealing," she admitted. "I've tried not to talk to anyone because it hurts too much to bring it up. I can't talk to them, Tori offered but I'm not sure I can really talk to her either…" she trailed off.
"Why not?" he was curious. "I can't pretend to know what you're going through Trina but why can't any of them help you? Either Tori or your parents –"
"They're not my parents," she cut him off bitterly.
"Really?" he asked in a curious voice. "They have been since you were a baby, they – and Tori – are the only family you've ever known, they must love you or they'd never have taken you in. From where I'm sitting, just because you're not their biological daughter," he sighed, wondering if he was wading into waters he should avoid, "doesn't mean they're not still your parents, or that Tori's not your sister." He caught the look she gave him and backpedalled. "I'm sorry, I don't know what you're going through and it's not my place to say stuff like that."
"No, Freddie," she said softly, "you're giving me a different perspective, different things to think about." Then she gave a small smile. "Actually right now I don't really want to think about it anymore so can we talk about something else? Tell me how your day was."
"Well," he grinned, perhaps a bit more widely than was necessary, "I think Carly and Sam got the wrong idea with us not sending a hundred texts each today."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, they wanted me to sit there while they talked about ideas for iCarly," he snorted out a breath, "it's not like they actually value my opinion or ideas for stuff on the show. Anyway," he shook his head as she gave him a concerned look, "they seemed shocked when I said I had to head home to talk to you; maybe they figured we weren't talking anymore since we didn't text all day. If so then, fortunately, they were wrong," he grinned at the Angelino who returned it before turning towards her bedroom door as she heard a call from downstairs.
"I gotta go for now; mom says dinner's ready," she said without thinking. "What?" she asked at his grinning face.
"See, she's still your mom. Just something to think about," he said lightly. She smiled again.
"'Bye Freddie," and she clicked off. The Seattleite laced his fingers and used them to support his head as he leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed. He hoped everything would work itself out for his friend in time. His phone beeped and he opened his eyes, feeling something he didn't expect as he looked at the phone; he was disappointed that the message was from Carly. iCarly rehearsal in the studio. Now. the message read. He pulled a face at the display and felt a pang of annoyance that she felt she could just demand he show up. He tapped in a sarcastic reply but his thumb hovered over the send button. He pondered for a few moments before deleting the message and replacing it with one that informed her that he would be over within the next ten minutes. He set the alarm on his phone for fifteen minutes time and resumed his relaxed pose, ignoring the device when it beeped a few moments later to inform him that he had a new message.
Trina sat silently and lost in thought as she ate her dinner. Tori and her mother sat at the table with her and they watched the older teen with renewed concern as it really wasn't her to be this quiet.
"Thank you," she told the Vega matriarch quietly when she had finished; she further surprised the others by taking her plate and loading it into the dishwasher.
"Hey girls, I'm home," Mr Vega declared as he entered the house a moment later.
"Hi dad," Tori welcomed him happily.
"Hey," Trina said with a watery smile.
"Hi honey," his wife added.
Trina looked from one person to another as her eyes scanned the spacious open plan living area; she was deliberating on what she wanted to say to them and realised that she needed more time to formulate her words. Instead she muttered, "I'll be in my room," and returned to it, loading the chat software again and feeling disappointment when Freddie wasn't on-line. She took her phone from the pocket of her jean shorts and fired off a quick message to him before a soft knocking turned her attention to the doorway to her bedroom.
"Hey Treen," Tori said quietly, smiling at the girl she still thought of as her 'big sister'. "Can I come in?"
"Sure," the elder girl smiled with genuine warmth as she invited her in. She stood up as Tori approached her and shocked the younger girl by pulling her into a hug; after a moment Tori recovered her poise and wrapped her arms round Trina's back. "You're still my baby sister," she whispered. Tori smiled happily against her shoulder.
iCarly Studio, Shay home, Apartment 8-C Bushwell Plaza
Seattle, WA
"Where have you been? What took you so long?" Carly demanded breathlessly.
After his alarm summoned him from his relaxing rest, Freddie had checked the phone and rolled his eyes at the seven messages from Carly urging him to be there quicker and the couple of threats from Sam demanding he show immediately. He shook his head and briefly deliberated blowing them off altogether; but he had made a promise to the brunette so he stretched his arms and legs before getting up and leaving his home. He knocked on the door to the Shay apartment and was granted admittance by Carly's eccentric older brother Spencer. He thanked the artist and made his way up to the studio in the freight elevator.
"I was busy; I was talking to my friend," he informed her. He knew that he was at best misleading her and at worst outright lying but really didn't care.
"Not good enough Freddie," Sam snarled, "she wanted you here for rehearsal."
"It'll have to be good enough," he retorted, then turned to Carly. "I'm not on-call 24/7 for the show; I have other things in my life."
Any response Carly may have had in mind was curtailed by Sam's snapping, "You mean Trina?"
He shook his head angrily and turned back to the brunette. "Do we have a rehearsal? Because if it's just going to be you two bitching and accusing me then I have better things to do with my evening." He made for the door before Carly called to him.
"Freddie, wait, please? We do have things to rehearse for the show."
He relented and took his position by the tech cart and watched as the two girls began to work through their routines. Both, however, seemed distracted and it wasn't long before Sam called a halt to proceedings.
"You know what? Forget it. Benson doesn't want to be here, he wants to be talking to his gank so –"
"WHAT?" Freddie asked in utter fury. "WHAT did you call her Puckett?" he snapped, taking a couple of steps closer to the blonde.
"Freddie…" Carly began, holding her hands up in a gesture of peace.
"No, Carly," he rounded on her, "there's no getting around this." He turned to the other girl and raised his right hand, pointing squarely at her with his index finger. "You will never speak like that about her again," he whispered coldly. Sam swallowed at the rare flash of anger from the boy but met his gaze challengingly. "Y'know what? I'm done with this," he turned and stormed out of the studio, ignoring Carly's stutterings and didn't stop until he was back in his own home. He sat on the couch in the living room and took in a few deep breaths to control his rage.
A knock on the front door disturbed him half an hour later. He checked the spyhole and opened the door to reveal a timid-looking Carly.
"Hey," she greeted him.
He moved away from the door and silently motioned her inside.
The brunette walked past him and took a seat on the Bensons' couch. Freddie sat in the armchair next to her and eyed her expectantly.
"I'm sorry about Sam –" she began before he cut her off.
"It's not your place to apologise for her," he told her.
Carly bowed her head; she looked at Freddie and took an apprehensive breath wondering if he would continue. When he didn't she felt compelled to make her own comment.
"So, you and Trina?"
"What about us?" His tone was irritable.
"Well, you two are talking a lot," she observed.
"So?"
"Do you like her?" Carly was curious and impatient.
"What's it to you?" he fired back. "You don't like me like that; don't you want me to try to be happy?"
His challenging question silenced his friend; she bit her lip as she wondered about how to reply.
"I want you to be happy," she answered finally. "Do you think she'll make you happy?" Her tone was curious.
"I don't know," he answered honestly, "but we had a connection, we're getting to know one another. We'll see how it goes."
"Will you be back for iCarly on Friday?" she asked with a hint of desperation in her voice.
He nodded. "I'll be there for it; just don't expect me to be around Sam too much in her current mood."
"I'll talk to her," the brunette insisted. "Things will work out."
He nodded, though he felt he was humouring her; he had a feeling that, now his eyes had been opened to the girls' attitude towards him, that things would never be right between the trio now.
AN: Thank you all for reading, please don't be shy about reviewing. PD31.
